Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....  (Read 24972 times)

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #20 on: December 10, 2009, 08:52:35 pm »
The beevac should be an example of recycling - it has given a 2nd life to 5 things all given to me for nix:
an old super,
an old vacuum cleaner,
an old microwave door, and
some old leftover paint.


Sounds like Johnny Cash is putting this one together. :-D

Offline John Lee Pettimore

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 114
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #21 on: December 10, 2009, 09:22:09 pm »
The beevac should be an example of recycling - it has given a 2nd life to 5 things all given to me for nix:
an old super,
an old vacuum cleaner,
an old microwave door, and
some old leftover paint.


Sounds like Johnny Cash is putting this one together. :-D

Just make sure you either get 2 or zero tail fins...
"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams.


Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #22 on: December 11, 2009, 06:59:15 pm »
Well things have changed once again - apparently the guys wife has changed her mind and is ready to move house. He called me this morning telling me how this one bee chased him round the entire yard (must be some killer bee!) and they're now trying to get in through the bathroom exhaust fan!

So I guess I better go outside, finish my beevac, get my gear together and have a crack at doing my 1st cutout........more to follow people......

ML

Offline G3farms

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #23 on: December 11, 2009, 07:05:05 pm »
don't forget the camera, video is better...........that way we can hear you scream like a little girl  :lau: :lau: :devilbanana: :lau: :lau:

G3
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #24 on: December 11, 2009, 07:07:24 pm »
don't forget the camera, video is better...........that way we can hear you scream like a little girl  :lau: :lau: :devilbanana: :lau: :lau:

G3

Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence!  :(

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #25 on: December 11, 2009, 07:22:55 pm »
Meadlover. It sounds like you have a good enough plan, with or without the bee vac. It would be nice if you had it just in case, but you will learn to improvise real quick even to the most equipped and thought out plans. You will do fine. Experience will just make you more comfortable and confident. Enjoy the experience !! 

Offline G3farms

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #26 on: December 11, 2009, 08:06:13 pm »
Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence!  :(

Just poking a little fun at ya, you will do just fine. A cut out by yourself is a real confidence booster. Take your time and just think it through, everything will fall in place and you will be done before you know it.

G3
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

Offline Lone

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1094
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #27 on: December 11, 2009, 08:20:04 pm »
Onya, ML.  I'm looking forward to hearing the tale.

Quote
a cut out by yourself is a real confidence booster.

I've always found enough friends around at the time who enjoy the experience too.  While it can be difficult if someone else has different ideas on how to do it, there might be times when some extra help is useful.  Maybe you can recruit an offsider.

Lone

Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #28 on: December 11, 2009, 08:26:56 pm »
don't forget the camera, video is better...........that way we can hear you scream like a little girl  :lau: :lau: :devilbanana: :lau: :lau:

G3

and I'll have you know that I scream like a distinguished lady

Offline G3farms

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #29 on: December 11, 2009, 08:49:26 pm »
and I'll have you know that I scream like a distinguished lady

we will be the judge of that!! :-D

G3
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

Offline iddee

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 10853
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #30 on: December 11, 2009, 10:23:51 pm »
Begin in the AM. It is better to have 8 hours for a 3 hour job than 3 hours and it take 8. A cutout cannot be estimated, time wise.

WISH YOU LUCK!
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #31 on: December 11, 2009, 10:35:11 pm »
Onya, ML.  I'm looking forward to hearing the tale.

Quote
a cut out by yourself is a real confidence booster.

I've always found enough friends around at the time who enjoy the experience too.  While it can be difficult if someone else has different ideas on how to do it, there might be times when some extra help is useful.  Maybe you can recruit an offsider.

Lone
You wouldn't be saying this so there are witnesses to hear the girly screams are you ?  :-D :-D

Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #32 on: December 12, 2009, 08:36:57 am »
Well just got home from the cutout. It's now 10:30pm at night, I'm really tired, dehydrated, bad headache and ready for bed so I'll keep it short and update tomorrow.
Not sure on size as it's my first but would be at least the size of a standard hive. Got 7 or 8 frames of brood held with rubber bands. Copped 3 stings. Franken-beevac seemed to work OK but needs mods. Owner happy and not so scared of bees now. LOTS of dead bees, I think too many dead bees. What would be the average survival rate for a cutout??? Need some advice tomorrow on what to do with all the dead bees. I left it with an empty super on the bottom to give them room to clean out the dead bees, plus the brood on top with 8 frames of brood and 2 of foundation on the outside.
Bed time now, got some good photos for tomorrow after I sleep in, then work out how to post photos.

Worried about all the dead bees, and hope the queen is in there somewhere.

ML

Offline Lone

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1094
  • Gender: Female
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #33 on: December 12, 2009, 09:53:27 am »
Quote
Need some advice tomorrow on what to do with all the dead bees

ML, I can see you really are zonked and knackered.  Do you really want to know how to give them a proper burial?  All I can say is, maybe you should play Flight of the Bumblebee for them.

Anyhow, well done on escaping with only 3 stings and a couple of loud hollers.

Lone

Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #34 on: December 12, 2009, 07:45:18 pm »
Thanks Lone. Now that I've had some sleep and rehydrated I guess I should explain things a bit better.
I think either my beevac design is flawed or I left them in there too long or some other technique I was using was incorrect as there were so many dead bees. When I tipped the bees onto the frames of brood it was a big ball, but not a very lively ball - it looked like 75% weren't moving at all  :'(

Since so many were dead I wasn't sure what to do with my ball of partly live partly dead bees, so thought I should leave them in the hive, so I put an empty super on the bottom, a super with the brood frames on top of that, then the lid. My line of thinking was that if I didn't put the empty super on the bottom the hive entrance would be too congested, or blocked, and hopefully the live ones would get out of the ball, and the dead ones would start to be hauled out by the live bees once they got back into their cleaning routine. My concern ATM is that there are probably too many dead bees for the remaining live ones to clean up.
This is why I'm not sure what I should have done with the ball of bees last night, or infact today either? :?

I guess I will trawl over cut-out and beevac threads over the next week or so and work out what I did right and what I did wrong.
I'm just hoping that firstly I got the queen, and secondly that she is still alive and stays on the brood combs.

I certainly learned a few things that I would do differently next time (if I do another cutout). 2 Beeks would certainly have made things faster and easier.
Anyhow time for some bacon and eggs for brecky, then I'll work out how to post pics.

ML

Offline G3farms

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #35 on: December 13, 2009, 12:52:34 am »
Sounds like you learned quite a bit on the cut out, that is a good thing. The dead bees could have been caused from several things, bees gotoo hot in the vac, vac sucking too hard and tumbled the bees to death, honey soaked bees will stick together and sort of drown and/or over heat. I made a bee vac on the robo design and it works great for me. Look up bushkill bee vac.

I do so hope they make it for you and three stings is just about right.

G3
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

Offline Meadlover

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 216
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #36 on: December 13, 2009, 12:55:37 am »
Thanks G3

well plans for today have changed again.
I put my name on the DPI swarm list on friday and got a call today from someone about 5km away so I am going to check it out, then checkout my cutout hive.
This swarm moved in 2 days ago so I need to read up on options for removing it. The owner didn't sound keen to keep a hive there AKA trapout, or cut holes in the wall AKA cutout, so it may end up being a job for a pest guy??? Any other ideas on saving the bees??

ML

Offline G3farms

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #37 on: December 13, 2009, 02:46:45 am »
If the swarm just moved in two days ago a trap out will not take long since they do not have much comb drawn out and brood started.

G3
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

Offline iddee

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 10853
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #38 on: December 13, 2009, 11:04:38 am »
A trap out will work in a couple of days if they just moved in. They have no food and will leave quickly. The queen will likely not go in the trap box, so you need to have the owner watching. She will land on a nearby tree or bush, a a normal swarm. You can then drop them into the hive as you would a swarm.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline Sparky

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 804
  • Gender: Male
Re: 1st year Beek, 1st cutout this weekend....
« Reply #39 on: December 13, 2009, 01:43:47 pm »
  I think either my beevac design is flawed or I left them in there too long or some other technique I was using was incorrect as there were so many dead bees.
Meadlover. You don't think the vent to the vac was not open enough and made the vac to strong, slaming them around to much, do you ?

 

anything